I am Thinking..??...???.......
As a Grade 9 teacher, where should I/we begin? Paula, Judy.....
This link http://big6.com/
is a good start, what do the other G 9 teachers think?
The Inquiry Model selected by us may determine which direction we head.
For questioning skills - here is a solid heads up. http://question-skills.wikispaces.com/

Try this link http://question-skills.wikispaces.com/Question skills
to explore question types and learning / knowledge ability of students. Good Stuff!
In a nutshell, start with these questions below:

We need to ask ourselves:

  • What aspects of questioning are important to target?
  • How do we define what an effective questioner is?
  • What constitutes a 'good' question?
A Quick Write on the Essential Question:
I think I am beginning to get an answer on what Inquiry Learning is , but there is much more to dive into. Thus, it becomes a matter of sharing with peers within a like Grade Level, and or course, with others within this entire committee. With such a vast wealth of information at our fingertips - so to speak - I can see our ELA UNIT enabling teacher to adapt them to different classes each year, providing distinct learning environments.
Because of this, I have a question, I believe there is another non-profound statement I must make. I do not like the use of the word EMPOWER. It is used too much within school divisions. Is it possible to come up with another word / catch phrase?
Session Two - Quck Write:
Can I say wow!?! Too many ideas - but many are good. Finding the commonality among us is the difficult part of this entire process. Will it work? Hopefully. It will be nice to see the objectives within the strands reduced - it is WAY TOO crazy trying to figure out the direction we need to go when 8 million strands can / should / might be incorporated into a 4-5 week unit. Oh well, life goes on and we fight through it all. The interesting aspect to this unit will be what resources are brought forward by individual group members and then utilized.
Cheers.........